CMF Phone 2 Pro review

There’s something inherently thrilling about a modular gadget. The promise of personalisation. The quiet rebellion against the mundane. The CMF Phone 2 Pro taps into that exact nostalgia – the tinkerer’s itch, the rush of owning something that feels yours.

While most budget phones play it painfully safe, the Phone 2 Pro flirts with individuality. It isn’t just another glass slab with a spec sheet. It’s a phone with visible screws, a snap-on ecosystem, and a design that’s equal parts tech-savvy and street-style. The kind of object that makes design lovers nod in approval, and casual users do a double take.

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And the CMF Phone 2 Pro isn’t just a sequel that plays it safe. It’s a glow-up, a redesign, and a rethink; all wrapped up in a sub-Rs 25,000 package that asks, why settle for boring? But with all that flair, the question remains, does it function well? Let’s find out in our CMF Phone 2 Pro review.

CMF Phone 2 Pro: Build and design

CMF’s design philosophy leans into raw edges and exposed screws, and the Phone 2 Pro carries that torch proudly. The backplate is dotted with subtle industrial touches, like a product born in a design lab, not an assembly line.

Available in White, Black, Light Green, and a fiery Orange that could probably start a conversation all by itself, this phone is anything but shy. The new magnetic Universal Cover lets you kit it out with add-ons, from clip-on lenses to a wallet and kickstand, turning your phone into a toolkit for the everyday.

Despite the plastic back, the phone feels sturdy and surprisingly sleek. Panda Glass protects the front, and an IP54 rating means it’ll survive a drizzle or two. It’s not built for adventure sports, but for city life? Absolutely.

CMF Phone 2 Pro: Display

The CMF Phone 2 Pro is one of the best binge-watch partners you can get your hands on under Rs 20,000. The 6.77-inch AMOLED screen isn’t just big, it’s immersive for the price.

It delivers rich, contrast-heavy visuals with 10-bit colour support and HDR10+ compatibility. Whether you’re watching moody noir thrillers or bright anime reels, the Phone 2 Pro delivers colours that pop without going overboard.

The 120Hz refresh rate adds a silky smoothness to scrolling and swiping. And while it doesn’t top outdoor brightness charts, it performs well enough under most conditions.

There’s a certain cinematic quality to the panel, especially at this price point, and it makes doomscrolling Instagram just a little more glamorous.

CMF Phone 2 Pro: Performance and software

In the engine room is a MediaTek Dimensity 7300 Pro that powers the device. It may not have flagship bragging rights, but its real-world reliability is hard to knock.

Whether you’re jumping between apps, editing a quick reel, or managing your week in three open tabs, it rarely misses a beat. This is a phone built for the multitasker who doesn’t want to think twice before switching gears.

What’s even better? The thermals are well-managed. Even during longer gaming sessions or when you’re hot-spotting for your laptop, the Phone 2 Pro stays comfortably cool. Benchmarks might show only marginal gains over its predecessor, but in day-to-day usage, the phone feels noticeably smoother and more stable.

And while its GPU performance won’t satisfy hardcore mobile gamers, casual titles and streaming run just fine. It handles titles like Asphalt, CODM, and BGMI at respectable frame rates, though you won’t get the highest graphics presets. Most importantly, it doesn’t stutter or overheat, which matters more for most users.

You get 8GB of RAM and either 128GB or 256GB of storage, with support for a microSD card. In 2025, that’s almost vintage, and very welcome. App loading times are zippy, multitasking is snappy, and UI animations feel consistent throughout the experience.

On the software front, Nothing OS 3.2 sits atop Android 15, and it continues to refine the art of less-is-more. With its sleek monochrome palette, fluid animations, and bloat-free approach, the experience feels curated rather than cobbled together. Everything from the swipe gestures to the custom widgets exudes thoughtfulness, and restraint. It feels fast, focused, and confidently minimal.

CMF Phone 2 Pro: AI features

But CMF didn’t just throw in AI for buzzword points, it gave it purpose. The Essential Key, a physical button on the side, works like a smart trigger for your brain – one press to take a screenshot, long-press to record a voice memo.

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These go into the Essential Space, a digital notepad for life’s fleeting moments. Scribbles, thoughts, audio clips, screenshots, all filed away neatly, with AI lending a hand when it comes to sorting or surfacing what matters. It’s a little like having a personal assistant who doesn’t talk back.

There’s also Ultra XDR for photography, Motion Capture for those unpredictable pet photos, and AI Vivid Mode when you want your world in richer, deeper hues.

CMF Phone 2 Pro: Cameras

Here’s where CMF turns the volume up. Most budget phones fake a third lens, usually a low-res macro that’s all talk. But here, all three cameras pull their weight.

The 50MP main sensor is large for its class and captures more light than the previous model. It translates into sharper, more detailed shots, especially in daylight.

Colours are lively but not overly saturated, and dynamic range feels balanced even in trickier lighting. HDR processing is subtle but effective, and skin tones look pretty natural in most scenarios.

The 50MP telephoto lens is a rare treat in this price segment. It offers genuine 2x optical zoom, making portrait shots feel natural with flattering compression and background separation. However, there is a noticeable colour shift between the portraits taken from the primary camera and telephoto shooter.

Of course, beyond the 2x zoom, it leans into digital territory and quality begins to dip, but that’s to be expected. In decent lighting, it delivers sharper-than-expected zoom results with minimal loss in contrast.

Then there’s the 8MP ultrawide, a handy addition for landscapes, group shots, or when you’re trying to squeeze more into the frame. It doesn’t match the detail of the main shooter, and distortion creeps in at the edges, but it’s more useful than most budget ultrawides. Low-light performance is passable, but it’s best used in well-lit settings.

Night mode is functional, but not miraculous. The main camera manages to brighten low-light scenes without turning them into over-processed messes, but finer detail gets lost.

The telephoto underwhelms in dim settings, and selfies in night mode tend to take on a strange yellowish tint, best avoided unless you’re going for that retro filter vibe. But in daylight, selfies come out as you’d expect from a phone at this price.

Video performance is solid for this segment. The main and telephoto cameras can record at up to 4K 30fps, with decent stabilisation. Autofocus, however, can sometimes be twitchy, especially when panning or recording moving subjects.

The ultrawide camera tops out at 1080p and shows its budget limitations, softness, fringing, and noticeable drop in colour consistency. Still, the overall experience is good enough for casual creators and social uploads.

CMF Phone 2 Pro: Battery life

The CMF Phone 2 Pro’s got stamina. A 5,000mAh battery delivers over seven hours of screen-on time, breezing through back-to-back calls, YouTube streams, and Instagram spirals.

It charges via 33W wired fast charging. You’ll get about 50 per cent juice in 30 minutes, and a full top-up in a little over an hour. Indian buyers also get a charger in the box, a rare and underrated luxury from the Nothing sub-brand.

You’ll find other thoughtful touches like Sleep Standby Optimisation and scheduled charging to extend battery health. It’s the kind of care you don’t usually see at this price.

Unboxed Take: Who should you buy the CMF Phone 2 Pro?

The CMF Phone 2 Pro is not perfect, and that’s exactly what makes it compelling. It has quirks, it has charm, and it dares to be different in a category full of forgettable black rectangles.

From its magnetic mods and Essential Key to its sharp telephoto and AI-infused software, it feels like a phone designed for people who want their tech to do more than just function.

The low light photography shows its limitations and the outdoor brightness isn’t best-in-class, but what this phone offers – style, smarts, and surprise – is far more valuable than raw specs alone.

So, if you’re tired of safe, monotonous smartphones, the CMF Phone 2 Pro is ready to shake up the status quo. For these reasons, we rate the CMF Phone 2 Pro 4/5.

However, if you are looking for a phone with better optics, consider the Vivo V29 5G or the OnePlus Nord CE4 Lite. Drop a comment about what you think of the CMF Phone 2 Pro. And for the latest reviews and comparisons, stay tuned to Unboxed by Croma.